After struggling over preconditions, the two Koreas agreed Friday to hold a reunion of family members displaced by the Korean War (1950-1953) at the Mt. Geumgang Resort in North Korea, from Oct. 30 to Nov.5.

One hundred families from South and North Korea will meet at the scenic mountain resort after the two sides finally came to an agreement after two failed rounds of talks.

Kim Eyi-do, the South’s chief negotiator, said families will meet at a family reunion center and the Mt. Geumgang Hotel located at the resort.

The North had initially demanded that the South resume tours to Mt. Geumgang as a precondition to holding the family reunions there, but relented for this reunion.

The North froze or seized all assets at the resort earlier this year in response to the South’s decision to suspend the tours, which came in the wake of a shooting death of a South Korean tourist in July 2008.

But Seoul also made a concession. “We said if Pyongyang proposes separate negotiations on the tours, we will consider it,” Kim told a group of reporters at the border checkpoint upon his return.

More than 80,000 South Koreans are waiting to meet family members in the North. According to the Red Cross in Seoul, nearly 260 people among them die each month, creating the need for more frequent and bigger meetings.

The number of families that have had the chance to meet their relatives in the North is a little over 20,000, since reunions began in 2000.

The agreement came one day after military talks failed as the two sides confirmed differences over the sinking of the South Korean frigate Cheonan.
The Cheona sank after an explosion on March 26, costing the lives of 46 South Korean sailors aboard.

An international joint investigation led by South Korea concluded the vessel was torpedoed by North Korea. Seoul has been demanding an apology from Pyongyang, which denies the allegation.

The North instead has asked that Seoul allow an inquiry team from Pyongyang to inspect the wreckage of the frigate.